Don't have time to sit back and relax: A R Rahman

Aug 06, 2013, 13:26 IST
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PTI

He has been dominating Bollywood music scene for decades now and is the only Indian composer to win two Academy awards, but A R Rahman does not yearn for a break from work as he feels it is just the beginning of his career

Known as the 'Mozart of Madras' among his fans, Rahman started his journey composing scores for documentaries and TV shows before getting his first movie break with 1992 release 'Roja'. Since then he has given soul-rendering music in films like 'Rangeela', 'Taal', 'Dil Se', 'Jodhaa Akbar', 'Swades', 'Rang De Basanti', 'Rockstar' and 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan' and 'Raanjhanaa'.

A R Rahman

"I don't have the time to relax. I still have so many things to do. My music school and so many other projects keep me busy. This is like God's way of saying go on. I am here to make music and will continue doing so. Things have just started for me," Rahman said. The music composer is all set to make his debut on the season 3 of 'Coke Studio' this year. He will be composing two Tamil songs, another song titled 'Zariya', with lyrics by Prasoon Joshi and a track based on Rabindranath Tagore's 'Mind Without Fear'.

"I took up the show just for the joy of performing with artistes coming together from different cultures - ranging from Tibet to the Middle East. "My compositions for Coke Studio celebrate cultures, under the overarching theme of happiness. I teamed up with Prasoon and Valee sir (Tamil Lyricist) to create the lyrics for a couple of my songs on happiness and am pleased with the outcome," said Rahman.

The other artists on the Coke Studio show include Salim Sulaiman, Ram Sampath, Amit Trivedi, Clinton Cerejo, Hitesh Sonik, and Papon. Rahman hopes that the show will add some freshness to his music. "Composing for this show is a continuation of my quest to broaden my horizons and keep adding a dash of freshness," he added.

Rahman is also excited about his upcoming India musical tour titled 'Rahmanishq', which he says will be a good platform to reconnect with his fans. "I think it is the right time to go on this tour. I want to interact with my fans and tours help rekindle the connect with the audience. It is the love of the audience which keeps motivating me to create more and more music and I want to get back to being with them," he added.

His tour will kick start on October 1 in Kolkata, followed by Visakhapatnam (October 12), Jaipur (October 20) and Ahmedabad (October 27). Rahman did not reveal much on his upcoming Hollywood projects, saying, "Interesting things are happening overseas but I cannot talk about it."